Starting Roses from Cuttings

University of Rhode Island GreenShare Factsheets

Starting Roses from Cuttings

Your beautiful rose blooms are faded and the petals are about to fall. Did you know that with a little effort, and a little luck, you can grow a rose bush from it?

In addition to your rose, you will need a one or two quart cardboard milk carton, a two or three pound coffee can with both ends removed and a clear plastic lid for the top, a cup or two of small stones or gravel, good garden soil (sterilized, if possible), Rootone (options), Rapid-Gro, patience and a spirit of adventure.

Your cutting should have at least five or six eyes (look at the spots where the leaves join the main stem--the small bumps you see there are eyes). Cut the dying bloom off the main stem. Leave the top two or three leaves in place, pull the bottom two or three sets of leaves off the main stem. Make a fresh slanting cut on the bottom of the stem by snipping off about one inch. If you have Rootone on hand, dip the bottom of the stem in it, coating the freshly cut end and shaking off the excess.

Cut the top off the milk carton. Snip off the bottom corners. Put about two inches of small stones or gravel in the bottom and fill with soil. Use sterile potting soil if you have it, but any good garden soil will do as long as it drains well and is not too heavy. Bury about half of the stem in the soil so that the bottom three eyes are covered. Water well with Rapid-Gro solution (1 Tbsp./gal) but do not drench the soil.

Choose a sheltered spot on the north or east side of your house or garage where there is good light but NO strong direct sun. Dig a hole wide and deep enough to hold the milk carton so the top of your cutting is just at ground level. Place your carton with its cutting into the hole. Sink the coffee can with both ends removed into the ground and place the clear plastic lid on the top (do not use a colored lid) so that your cutting is covered. You have, in effect, created a miniature greenhouse.

From now until frost, check occasionally to be sure the cutting is not drying out. Replace the coffee can lid securely after each check. Water if necessary, but do not otherwise disturb your cutting.

Next spring, from about the middle of April on, weather permitting, remove the lid from the coffee can on warm sunny days so that the plant will gradually become accustomed to fresh air and sunshine. Water as necessary.

About the first day of May, weather permitting, you can transplant your new little rose to a permanent spot in your garden. After you have dug the hole, peel the milk carton away and set the plant in its new home. It should produce some blooms the first year and after about three years you will have a full-sized plant as fine as any you can buy!

Some varieties do not root readily. If you discover in the spring that your cutting has died, try again.

Some gardeners have had satisfactory results putting their cuttings directly into the ground and placing canning jars or gallon jugs with the bottoms removed over them. This method has a few disadvantages, however: the cuttings often “cook” under the glass because the glass tends to intensify the sun’s rays, fine feeder roots are damaged when the cuttings are transplanted and a sheltered semi-shaded spot which is ideal for rooting cuttings is not the best plants for established plants which need sun to thrive.

Important Note: It is illegal to root patented rose varieties by any method. Patented roses may be reproduced only by license from the patent holder.

Adapted from George R. Miller, Cornell Cooperative Extension, 2001
Photo Peggy Greb, ARS Image Gallery

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